Yvresse (formerly known as Champagne)

A fairy comes out of nowhere and offers you one application from an unfamiliar perfume bottle. It may be your next favourite perfume or it may be a scrubber. What will you do? Will you have it sprayed on a scent stripe or on your skin?

Please take this review with a grain of doubt. It is based on only one wearing of Yresse. And it’s the first time in a long time (if there ever were such time) that I have applied a perfume to my skin without ever smelling it before. Not on a scent stripe. Not from a vial. Not in a magazine stripe. Nowhere. There are not a single tester of Yvresse in the entire city of Vancouver. In fact there is only one store that sells it and the supply seems extremely low. The shop ownder at Shifeon was kind enough to pull it out of the cellophane-wrapped box and spray me once on each wrist so I can judge for myself (and hopefully come back for more and pay for it next time). She also promised to do the same with Y (another perfume that has become so unpopular in Vancouver that it is no longer carried here).

Yvresse opens bubbly and sparkling yet at the same time also powdery and with an underlying dryness that grabs you by surprise. It has the fuzzy texture of unripe peach skin, crisp and for some reason this misleading sensation of being soft while in fact it is rough and sober. The original name Champagne describes it perfectly as it has all the characteristics of the fancy sparkling wine, including the fruitiness and the elegant white-wine dryness.

And indeed, Yvresse develops like wine, with very subtle changes between the nose and the body being quite subtle. The bubbly, peachy and cool qualities are maintained throughout its life on the skin. And the underlining notes, although a classic chypre accord of oakmoss, vetiver and patchouli are very light and subtle in nature. It is most similar to Chant d’Aromes by Guerlain – a very light, albeit melancholy floral chypre. With its touch of roses and sophisticated soft powder, Yvresse also winks towards another creation by Sophia Grojsman for YSL – Paris. However there is something more original about its overall composition, that makes it different from the other more bold Grojsman perfumes I have experienced – it is just more sheer and lighthearted and romantic without taking itself so seriously.

Thankfully, Yvresse seems like one of those rare occasions of love from first sniff. Perhaps it’s not a great love but just a summer fling, but I am definitely feeling the love emanating from my wrists on this day spent with Yvresse.